Synopsis: Navy men don’t come tougher than Lieutenant Peter Greene. Every day he whips hotshot SEAL wannabes into elite fighters. So why can’t he handle one fifteen-year-old girl? His ex’s death left him a single dad overnight, and very unprepared. Though he can’t relate to an angsty teen, he can at least keep Maddie safe—until the day she disappears. Though Pete’s lacking in fatherly intuition, his instinct for detecting danger is razor sharp. Maddie’s in trouble. Now he needs the Troubleshooters team at his back, along with an unconventional ally.

Romance writer Shayla Whitman never expected to be drawn into a real-world thriller—or to meet a hero who makes her pulse pound. Action on the page is one thing. Actually living it is another story. Shay’s not as bold as her heroines, but she’s a mother. She sees the panic in her new neighbor’s usually fearless blue eyes—and knows there’s no greater terror for a parent than having a child at risk. It’s an ordeal Shay won’t let Pete face alone. She’s no highly trained operative, but she’s smart, resourceful, and knows what makes teenagers tick.

Still, working alongside Pete has its own perils—like letting the heat between them rise out of control. Intimate emotions could mean dangerous, even deadly, consequences for their mission. No matter what, they must be on top of their game, and playing for keeps . . . or else Pete’s daughter may be gone for good.

My Review: Even though this is the first Troubleshooters book I have read, the story is a standalone and I had no difficulty reading and enjoying it. The author moved the story along at a quick pace that has me hooked from the beginning. Finding out more about these characters and what was going to happen to them had me reading late into the night so I could finish. Great characters, as well as a wonderful combination of drama, action, suspense and romance.

The story centers around the hunt for Lt. Peter “Grunge” Greene’s runaway 15-year-old daughter. Maddie Nakamura is in trouble because her so-called friend, Fiona, framed her for stealing 10,000 dollars from a drug kingpin. Fiona took off home with the money and told him that she gave it to Maddie, and now she is trying to find Fiona to get the money back before something happens to her. Peter is a trainer for the SEAL program, a new single dad (Maddie’s mom recently died) and a gorgeous man. Shayla, the across the street neighbour who is helping this virtual stranger, is a romance writer, a single mom of two teenage boys and somewhat smitten with the hot SEAL. There is humour (Shayla’s main character from her books talks to her), action, suspense and hot romance (i.e. read sex). Maddie is also dealing with a lot of emotions in this story. She is on the run with a 20 year old stoner/drug dealer that she starts to have feelings for, she is definitely frightened, she does not know her dad and does not trust him enough to let him help her and she finds out more about her Japanese heritage, all more than this 15 year old can really handle. I recommend this book to lovers of romantic thrillers, it is a good one. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.